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‘The plane is a Grecian ovolo with bead and is designed to cut a one-inch wide profile in half-inch thick stock.’

‘These often have a small bead on one edge and a band molding applied to the other.’

‘If you can't pry out the nails without further damaging the wall, use the snips to cut the bead from around the nailheads.’

verb

[with object]

1Decorate or cover with beads.

‘I beaded the jacket by hand’

‘Layer fringe and ribbon, different fringe lengths, or beaded and fabric trims.’

‘How about intricately beaded jewelry or a hand-knitted cable scarf?’

‘These rectangular bags, usually beaded on one side only, appear to have developed just after 1850 with the introduction of seed beads.’

‘She had the decency to cover herself with a brightly coloured, beaded shawl but it hardly helped.’

‘Kimono night robes, Turkish peasant tops and embroidered, beaded skirts are just a few of the hot items that will be turning heads this season.’

‘In the rules it says you can be a movie character and if they had spent 2 years on a heavily beaded costume they would probably also deserve to win.’

‘Also use sew-ins on vinyls, sequined or beaded fabrics, and those with a water- or stain-repellant finish.’

‘Garbed in regally beaded, colorful gowns of orange and blue-green instead of their normally drab brown shifts, they looked almost like royalty.’

‘They also come braided, beaded, decorated, and high-heeled.’

‘The bride wore a white beaded bodice with a net skirt and train, and a shoulder-length veil held by a pearl and rhinestone tiara.’

‘He beaded belts and purses for sale at Czech rodeos and other western-themed occasions.’

‘They are both mad about the season's bright colours as well as the sophisticated button, beaded and flower detail to be found everywhere.’

‘Taren said, presenting her with a sword that remained sheathed in an elven leather scabbard, beaded and decorated with the majestic colors of the earth.’

‘The silk is beaded with tiny crystals that sparkle when the light catches them just right.’

‘This summer I used a funky embroidered and beaded denim covered notebook with violet and lilac gel pens’

‘One can see beaded slippers being made, and if able to afford it, buy a pair as a lovely memory of the place.’

‘Most of the time, he wisely kept a light touch with turquoise beading, trimming fresh white tweed coats and dresses with the stuff - and even won with a swingy beaded skirt worn with a delicate cashmere tank.’

‘She also has strings of pearls in her hair, as well as pearls beaded into her hair.’

‘After all my bragging about beads, Jim sent me a nice e-mail and asked me if I'd be willing to take a commission to bead him a bracelet.’

‘I know I am, having a dippy mother to call my very own and bead me things for my birthday.’

2Cover (a surface) with drops of moisture.

‘his face was beaded with perspiration’

‘Like water beading on the surface of a freshly waxed car, the palladium formed granular clusters just a few nanometers across.’

‘Two glasses of iced tea sat on the counter, beaded with condensation.’

‘For example, the film opens in a rainstorm and you can see every drop of water beading on Harry's jacket; later on, there's a night scene in which grain explodes from the screen.’

‘Moisture is beaded on the windshield of the pick-up.’

‘‘You'll end up in Hell,’ Vincent interrupted, forcing out his words as sweat beaded on his forehead.’

‘I started, beaded in a cold sweat, breathing hard.’

‘With moisture still beading on my skin, I took to my heels, only to run face first into someone's chest.’

‘Flowers with their petals recently beaded with rain drops have a unique appeal, the very epitome of freshness.’

‘The tankard of beer was beaded with condensation and deliciously cold.’

‘Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his shaking hands betrayed his feelings… He wanted to kill Jennifer, with every ounce of neural power in his mind.’

‘Tanner felt sweat bead on his upper lip: he had to stay still.’

‘I wanted to imagine Gabe's arms around me, but I just felt prickly from the temperature and the sweat beading my skin.’

‘She came out of the bathroom with the pictures of the training facility, then used her mini blow dryer to dry the water which beaded the surface of the prints.’

‘‘You're an idiot,’ I told myself as I let the hot steamy water bead down my body.’

‘Vivienne struggled for an answer, feeling sweat bead along her nape and along her forehead, where her dark hair was already hanging limply from her shower.’

‘Sweat beaded and fell from his brow like raindrops.’

‘The water beaded and rolled off of ashen pinions.’

‘Sweat beaded off her forehead and landed on her pillow.’

‘The answer is in the minute details of the leaf structure at the surface which beads water and directs it off the leaf, containing a load of dust and other particles.’

‘‘Because once wouldn't be enough,’ he replied at last, tears beading his cheeks again.’

Phrases

draw (or get) a bead on

1Take aim at with a gun.

‘I drew a bead on the nape of his neck’

‘Plenty of good spots for a rebel sniper or two with AA artillery to get a bead on an air limo cruising along.’

‘‘He drew a bead on me and I drew a bead on him and dropped him,’ Capt. Hornbuckle says. ‘He was not going to stop me from going home.’’

‘A sensor contact made him pause, take cover, and get a bead on the opening to the tunnel.’

‘The Snowbirds obliged by flying in numbers sufficient for my autofocus to get a bead on them.’

‘He dove underneath me and I could not get a bead on him.’

‘A quick look over my shoulder gives me enough time to see a smartly suited figure, accompanied by similarly clothed and similarly armed others, pull what looks like a pulsegun and try to get a bead on me.’

‘Most of the weapons have some kind of targeting laser that looks very cool but it doesn't help getting a bead on a charging zombie.’

‘The advantage of bullet time is that while everything slows down, you can still aim in real-time. Some of the best and most tense moments come from watching a hail of enemy bullets whiz past as you try to get a bead on them before they fire again.’

‘The real tactics of sea battling is in forcing your enemy into a bad position and then damaging them while they cannot get a bead on your ship.’

‘The sergeant drew a bead on the shooter with his weapon of choice, an M - 14 rifle equipped with a special optic sight that has crosshairs and a red aiming dot.’

‘Other times, on other nights that Goodrum himself describes, he'd relive those bleak seconds aboard the USS Missouri when he was in the Navy during the War and a missile drew a bead on his ship.’

‘Turner got a bead on yet another alien ship and loosed a missile from the left pylon.’

‘Our C - 130 Hercules zigzagged up to cruising altitude so bad guys couldn't get a bead on us with shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.’

‘Plenty of good spots for a rebel sniper or two with AA artillery to get a bead on an air limo cruising along.’

‘He dove underneath me and I could not get a bead on him.’

‘The Snowbirds obliged by flying in numbers sufficient for my autofocus to get a bead on them.’

‘The purpose of the dance was to prevent snipers from getting a bead on us.’

‘She'll look around trying to get a bead on the place.’

‘The Kyrgyz soldiers draw a bead on him.’

‘With a major three-year $500,000 grant from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Foundation is drawing a bead on reaching this at-risk group.’

‘She looked down at herself to get a bead on her situation, only to find she wasn't clothed.’

‘He's good at showing different looks so offenses have a hard time getting a bead on what the defense is doing.’

‘Scope in place, he drew a bead on the enemy.’

tell one's beads

Use the beads of a rosary in counting prayers.

‘When he was sleepless he lay on his back and told his beads, and there was a small rosary in the pocket of his pyjama coat.’

‘In medieval times the amethyst was a favourite amulet as a preserver of the wearer in battle, and many a pious crusader who nightly told his beads, relied also upon the purple stone that hung as a protective charm beside his rosary.’

‘And when she knelt down to tell her beads that night, a very strange and terrible prayer lingered on her lips the last and most earnestly of all.’

‘She had remained steadfast in her faith and had continued to tell her beads on her fingers.’

‘Whilst she told her beads with her left hand, she held in her right hand a lighted candle which was frequently blown out by the strong draught which was blowing along the Gave; but each time, she gave it to the person nearest her to have it re-re-lit.’

‘Beside the well and the ruins of a place of worship in which James IV. told his beads in 1504 there are traces of a burial-ground where several families of distinction were interred.’

‘And I am going to stand under the oaks and tell my beads.’

‘Meanwhile Madame de Noailles read her breviary and told her beads and took little naps, wholly ignorant of the drama that was beginning its perilous unfolding before her.’

‘To his great relief the Nurse enters - an Irish nun in long white robes, telling her rosary beads.’

‘Franz Werfel said of an old woman that she told her beads as though she were knitting garments for the poor.’

‘But his heart smote him when he told his beads, and remembered what he had said to Carloman.’

‘She resolved however not to be drawn into any action which might attract the hatred of the prince; for she knew him indeed to be a man out of her sphere, a man who went to mass, and told his beads as the church directed him.’

‘Josephine kept a long list of intentions and told her beads with the same dispatch with which she cleaned house.’

‘The Sikh and the cultivator's wife chewed pan; the lama took snuff and told his beads, while Kim, cross-legged, smiled over the comfort of a full stomach.’

Origin

Old English gebed ‘prayer’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch bede and German Gebet, also to bid. Current senses derive from the use of a rosary, each bead representing a prayer.